“This is what we look like on day one of taking beetroot every day… this is day 50…” They look like the kind of wellness content creators you scroll past every day on social media — except ‘none of them are real’. Also read | Doctors at the heart of health care in the age of AI
Event Context
An investigation by The New York Times revealed a surge in AI-generated avatars posing as medical professionals, traditional healers, and lifestyle influencers to hawk health supplements through deceptive social media ads.
In a July 22 Instagram video, The New York Times said it reviewed hundreds of these spots to uncover how AI video tools are helping a loosely regulated industry target vulnerable consumers and profit off health disinformation.
With 40 employees and hundreds of social accounts, a Chinese agency representative in the video reported producing around 1,200 AI videos per day at a cost of roughly $10 each, tailored to look American.
Match Outlook
“They’re targeting us people that have health issues… I’ve always had the joint problems and the inflammation and the fatigue… I basically wanted something that was going to help me with all that,” Pamela Wundro, 71, a US-based retired truck driver living with an autoimmune disease, said in the video shared by The New York Times.
Although Pamela couldn’t definitively prove the pills made her worse, she wondered if the supplement played a direct role in her sudden health decline. The New York Times said that Ambrosia Brands, the parent company behind Rosabella, did not respond to requests for comment despite accumulating hundreds of complaints with the ‘Better Business Bureau’ (which operates primarily in North America) over the past three years.
The report highlighted that to trick buyers, creators go to extreme lengths. Ads reportedly feature recurring motifs — ‘American flags’, idyllic suburban backdrops, and synthetic actors posing as traditional gurus or physicians, with ‘fake diplomas hanging on fake office walls’.
In the video, one AI presenter opened with, “In Chinese medicine, we have known exactly how to bring this down for generations.” Reviewing the clip, Pamela admitted, “I believe in Chinese medicine, and I can see how this would hook people because she looks real… to me, this does not look like an AI.”
Other ads crossed into dangerous territory, claiming a herbal supplement treated stage-three kidney disease better than prescription medication. While such ads would reportedly be illegal on US television, they face little to no enforcement online.
The explosion of synthetic ads is reportedly fuelled by international agencies cashing in on cheap technology. One content creator explained the strategy in the video shared by The New York Times: “’Share a link to an Amazon product and get paid commission…’ The people who figure this out are printing money behind the scenes.”
As deepfake influencers continue to multiply across social feeds, everyday consumers are left exposed to unvetted, potentially hazardous products. Pamela warned: “You want real truth in advertising. You don’t want this fake person. Anybody could be scammed.”
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
